Child carriers are designed to be worn by an adult and carry a child therein. Child carriers may support a child in a forward-facing or rearward-facing position, and child carriers may be configured to position the child on the front and/or back of the adult wearing the child carrier.
Two main functions of a child carrier are to position a child within the carrier comfortably and safely and to secure the carrier to the wearer comfortably and safely. Factors influencing the comfort of a child include proper support, such as a weight-supporting seat or cradle, and proper positioning of the child's torso, head, neck, and legs. Securely holding a child in the proper position ensures both comfort and safety of the child. It may be desirable to provide multiple positions and multiple support configurations of a child carrier such that a child can be comfortably secured within the child carrier as the child grows without requiring an entirely different child carrier.
Factors influencing the comfort of a wearer include harness shape, proper harness position, and weight distribution among others. The harness shape may be uncomfortable for a wearer if it is not properly sized and the harness may be uncomfortable if it is in the incorrect position. Further, it may be uncomfortable to carry the majority of the weight of a heavier child within the child carrier on the shoulders of the wearer as this may create an imbalance as the wearer moves about. Therefore it may be desirable to have a harness shape that accommodates wearers of different sizes and a harness that remains in the proper position when worn by a wearer. Further, distributing the weight of an occupant of the child carrier between the shoulders and the waist or hips of a wearer may increase the weight capacity for which the child carrier can be comfortably worn.